The trio were able to arrive at the plain grassy spot just as they planned and camped there. The very next day, Shin started teaching Ken how to swing and handle a Katana as he taught the both how to control their energy emission which would let them confuse the enemies on their backs if they were chased. Izumi was always interested in knowing how Shin never emitted any energy, so she jumped in and started training herself as Shin instructed her to.
Izumi bonded her Harpy Eagle spirit with her Soul sword - Katana as soon as she got the hang of her new sword. The minute she called out her eagle, it came out and balanced itself on Izumi's shoulder. As soon as Izumi ordered it to bond with the Soul sword, the eagle spirit flew right into the Katana as it shone brightly as if signalling Izumi that it bonded perfectly. A white light engulfed the Katana as it bonded successfully with the spirit.
"Good, that's it. Keep it up Ken." Ken was swinging his katana fiercely and swiftly towards Shin. Shin wasn't blocking his attacks with his dual blades but was just moving to the sides or jumping back or forth to avoid his attacks and then after a while they switched places places and Ken had to dodge the same way. Every time Ken swings his sword at Shin, he evaded the swing and left a scratch on him with a dagger.
"You say this isn't exactly training, but isn't this called 'training me in sword art'." Ken finally dropped to the ground covered with scratches all around his body. Ken panted as he laid on the ground with drops of blood here and there.
"Like I said Ken, you will know what I meant in three days. Izumi, heal him again." Shin placed the dagger back inside a small sheath which was behind his waist but was inside his dark coloured hoodie. Izumi sat by his side and sent golden coloured energy through his hand slowly which healed his scratches within 15 minutes. Normally any severe wound like a 3 inch stab into one's body, even if it didn't hit any vital point would take a lot of time ,energy and a real healer to heal, but Shin made sure he only scratched Ken on the surface which made it easy to heal and even possible for Izumi to do it.
"Try to control your energy, just like I taught you both. You aren't getting any food today if you both don't drop your energy emission down to 30 percent within 3 minutes." Shin walked away into a distance and waited patiently to sense their decreasing energy.
Ken and Izumi sighed looking at each other and sat down as they concentrated on the energy that was circulating through their body. They were able to calm their energy within 2 minutes but had to focus everything they got.
"Good. Now try walking around keeping the same emission rate." Shin ordered the two from a distance.
Shin continued to train the both for the entire week and added new elements like running or sprinting while holding their low emission rate while teaching them how to track people and gather food from the wild.
Time : 5 PM.
"Make sure you put everything back in your Shelt. We will be passing this area again but we might not have time to stop here then." Shin said as he walked towards Izumi and Ken who were packed and ready to leave. Ken and Izumi wore a black outfit just like they were instructed by Shin who wore a dark outfit as usual.
"I guess you both are all set. Let's move, we have to get to the fort by night fall." Ken sped up into a speed of 15 mph again, but this time Ken was able to keep up without any problem. The fort was around 40 miles west from their present location.
The trio entered the small city around the fort by 8 PM. The fort only had two entrances, one facing towards the East and the other facing the West.
"Follow me and stick close, your training is about to start in an hour." Shin led them through the city towards the fort's east entrance. Ken and Izumi were signalling each other asking if the other knew what they were about to do.
The trio arrived at the East gate and stood outside as they waited Shin to guide their next move.
"Master Shadow, what next?" Izumi was still formal as usual even after all this time.
Shin let out a small smile as he said "Just follow me, you will know in a few minutes." Shin walked in slowly towards the guards at the gate with Izumi and Ken by his side.
"I am here to report about Areon's status to the commander." Shin said firmly as he covered his face with his hand as if he was fixing his hair.
The guards were told by the fort's commander that he was expecting someone to report to him. The guards unhesitatingly pulled in their spears which were blocking the road.
"Oh, by the way. These two are my best friends." Shin smiled as he said those words while he pointed towards Ken and Izumi, this made the guards look at Shin weirdly. Shin and the other two walked into the fort casually.
"Shin is acting a bit weird isn't he? Otherwise, why did he declare that all of a sudden?" Ken leaned a bit towards Izumi as he whispered those words into her ears. Izumi nodded in agreement as they both glared at Shin.
Many protectors always patrolled inside the fort regardless of the time. Shin covered his face with his hood and the shadow of the hood covered his upper face as he led Izumi and Ken all around the fort. As soon as Shin saw any patrolling protector, he would turn to Izumi and Ken as he says the words "You both are my best friends after all." out loud.
"Don't ask anything, just follow me." As he saw Ken and Izumi trying to ask something he immediately cut their words before either of the both could even ask him why he was doing it. After a while Shin finally led them into a small room which looked like a store room.
"Wait here and don't move until I come back. I will be back in a few minutes." Shin opened the store room's door and as soon as he went out of the room, he disappeared into thin air.
"I don't understand, what he is trying to do? He is acting totally weird all of a sudden." Ken opened his mouth and didn't hold back what he wanted to say.
"Neither do I ken. Let's just wait and see what Master Shadow is planning." Izumi sighed as she sat down on a nearby platform. The two kept on talking about what they thought Shin was planning.
After 18 minutes, the store room's door opened slowly and Shin appeared out of thin air in front of them.
"The training has begun guys." Shin said with a smile but for some reason Izumi and Ken started to feel a bit uneasy and afraid of something.
"What do you mean Shin?" Ken was the one to open his mouth and ask the obvious question on behalf of Izumi and himself.
"Now, Listen carefully you both."
"This place was marked as a grey area by Leo, that means there are dark people trying to take over the control of this fort and city. I snuck out every day in the night and came here to find out what exactly was happening."
"The commander of the fort has sided with the lord of this city and they both started abusing their authorities."
"The Commander of the fort and the Lord of this city were having a meeting right now with the other captains who have no idea about the commander and the city's Lord."
"So, now you have to escape from the fort and the city and make it out alive without hurting any protector severely, that's your task for this training." Shin had a dark coloured energy mask covering his face as he said those words.
"I don't get it, why do we have to run at all?" Izumi gave Shin a confused look along with Ken who displayed a similar face.
"Oh, that's because the meeting room was guarded by many protectors who passed by us earlier and I snuck into the room hiding my energy. And…" As Shin was about to complete his words the doors behind him hit the wall as they swinged with a loud 'Thud'.
"He's here, I found him...and also his best friends." A protector with a Lance and two more protectors behind him shouted.
Shin took a look at the protectors and turned back to face Ken and Izumi as he said
"And I slit both the Lord's and Commander's throats. That said, time to train…RUN!!!" Shin disappeared into thin air as Ken and Izumi now faced the protectors who had a killing intent on their face standing at the store room's entrance.
"Holy Sh*t!" Ken's face whited out as he said those words.